“Chuck” faces formidable odds on Monday nights at 8, where it will be competing against “The Bachelor” on ABC, “House” on Fox and “How I Met Your Mother” on CBS. Ms. Bromstad said she would be satisfied if “Chuck” could maintain the ratings of its predecessor, the adventure series “Heroes,” which is moving to 9 p.m. and is averaging just over five million viewers this season. “It’s a very, very tough time slot, and we recognize that,” she said.

Heroes has been doing worse recently at 8pm with adults 18-49 this year than Chuck did last year when it averaged a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating even with repeats. So will NBC be "satisfied" if Chuck is pulling a 2.3 at 8pm like Heroes did last night? My opinion is yes, NBC will be satisfied but being satisfied will have absolutely nothing to do with whether the show gets renewed or not. In other words, Chuck can pull a 2.3 (or probably even a little bit less) and NBC will air all 19 of the episodes it has ordered, but that doesn't make its renewal prospects a lock by any means.

Showrunner Josh Schwartz seems to be taking that in stride.

With a decision about a fourth year of “Chuck” already on the horizon, Mr. Schwartz said he and his staff were running the show much the same as they did at this time last year.

“You try to take it to all-new heights,” he said, “and if there should be a next year, then how we top that is next year’s problem.”